ARQIS News

The US publisher Best Lawyers has once again selected Germany's top lawyers. This year, a total of 22 colleagues are among the best in the sector. The award "The Best Lawyers in Germany" is presented annually by the US publisher Best Lawyers in cooperation with Handelsblatt. The award winners are determined in a peer review survey in which lawyers vote for those colleagues they consider to be particularly recommendable.

The "Best Lawyers in Germany 2026" include:

Dr. Mirjam Boche, Corporate Governance and Compliance, Corporate Law, Litigation, Insurance Law

Dimitrios Christopoulos, Arbitration and Mediation, Litigation, Product Liability Litigation

Andreas Dietl, Mergers & Acquisitions

Prof. Dr. Christoph von Einem, Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions

Dr. Friedrich Gebert, Public Law, Regulatory Practice

Dr. Lars Laeger, Mergers & Acquisitions

Dr. Philipp Merten, Labor and Employment Law

Tobias Neufeld, Corporate Governance and Compliance Practice, Data Security and Privacy Law, Employee Benefits Law, Labor and Employment Law

Thi Kieu Chinh Nguyen, Labor and Employment Law

Marcus Nothhelfer, Intellectual Property Law, Leisure and Licensing Law, Litigation, Media Law

Dr. Andrea Panzer-Heemeier, Data Security and Privacy Law, Labor and Employment Law

Dr. Christof Alexander Schneider, Corporate Governance and Compliance Practice, Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions

Dr. Jörn-Christian Schulze, Corporate Law, Private Equity Law

Martin Weingärtner, Labor and Employment Law

Erstmalig zu den Best Lawyers gehören:

Thomas Chwalek, Mergers & Acquisitions

Dr. Waldemar Rembold, Litigation

At the same time, Best Lawyers, in cooperation with Handelsblatt, presents the category "Ones to Watch in Germany 2026". This category identifies lawyers with "particularly good prospects" who have generally been practicing for three to eight years. Even at this early stage of their career, they have already earned an exceptional reputation among competitors and clients.

Honored as "Ones to Watch in Germany" are:

Dr. Maximilian Backhaus, Corporate Law

Dr. Hanna Caesar, Labor and Employment Law

Dennis Reisich, Tax Law

Newly included in the "Ones to Watch" category:

Benjamin Bandur, Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions

Diana Puchowezki, Construction Law

Paul Vermeulen, Corporate Governance and Compliance

You can find the complete list and a detailed list of all award-winning lawyers in the Handelsblatt Best Lawyers Special.

ARQIS advised Adelis Equity Partners on the acquisition of a majority stake in European IT Consultancy EITCO GmbH (EITCO), an IT consultancy specialized in enterprise content management (ECM). Through this partnership, private equity firm Adelis is expanding its portfolio in the technology sector and entering the German market. Simultaneously, the acquisition will support EITCO’s organic growth. The focus of further growth will be on expanding the company’s offering, enhancing its capabilities and extending its geographical footprint, therefore building on the strong track record of Adelis. The existing management team of EITCO will remain in place and will be a significant shareholder after the transaction. Further details of the transaction, such as the purchase price, were not disclosed.

Adelis Equity Partners, headquartered in Stockholm, is a leading, growth-focused private equity firm based in the Nordics. Since 2013, Adelis has been one of the most active investors in the Nordic middle-market with 46 platform investments and over 260 add-on acquisitions. Adelis has around € 4.5 billion of capital under management.

European IT Consultancy EITCO GmbH is a leading ECM specialist with headquarters in Berlin. Its clients include public sector organisations, regulatory bodies and enterprises with an increasing demand for digital content and document management. The company, with offices in Berlin, Bonn and Essen and about 200 employed FTEs, offers tailored solutions, based on either its own modern, modular arveo content services platform or leading third-party ECM software products.

An ARQIS team headed by Dr. Jörn-Christian Schulze advised Adelis Equity Partners on the transactional aspects of the acquisition. Private equity forms a key focus of ARQIS’ transactions practice. Adelis instructed ARQIS for the first time in context with this initial German platform transaction.

Advisor to Adelis Equity Partners
ARQIS (Dusseldorf): Core Deal Team: Dr. Jörn-Christian Schulze (lead), Christos Choudeloudis, Katrin Ludwig (Managing Associate, all Transactions), Partner: Thomas Chwalek (Transactions), Dr. Mirjam Boche (Dispute Resolution), Dr. Ulrich Lienhard (Real Estate), Tobias Neufeld (HR Law), Marcus Nothhelfer (IP, Munich), Counsel: Christian Judis (Compliance, Munich), Jens Knipping (Tax), Nora Stratmann (Commercial, Munich), Martin Weingärtner (HR Law), Managing Associates: Rolf Tichy (IP, Munich), Paul Vermeulen (Dispute Resolution), Associates: Ivo Ertekin, Tim Meyer-Meisel, Steffen Schubert (all Transactions), Dr. Lina Alami (Munich), Dr. Tim Weill (both HR Law), Rebecca Gester (Commercial, Munich), Dr. Bernhard Gröhe (Regulatory), Paulina Hüttner (IP, Munich), Lia Papismedova (Real Estate)

Ashurst (Frankfurt am Main): Anne Grewlich, Sabrina Bremer (both lead), Mid Eum Joo, Britta Freitag, Petra Schott (all Financing)

Marck (Dusseldorf): Dr. Georg Schmittmann, Simon Philipp (both Merger Control)

ARQIS advised biogeen GmbH on all legal aspects of the acquisition of two biomethane plants in Bavaria from Steinbeis Holding and the Abel Group. This acquisitions expand biogeen's portfolio and open up a new region. The state-of-the-art plants, located in Mammendorf and Lauterhofen, Bavaria, have a total production capacity of around 80 gigawatt hours of biomethane per year. With the associated expansion of biogas production in southern Germany, biogeen is also making a sustainable contribution to the energy transition and the reduction of CO2₂emissions.

biogeen GmbH, headquartered in Münster, is a leading operator of biogas plants in Germany and specializes in the production and marketing of renewable energies such as bioelectricity, bioheat, bio-LNG, and biomethane. The company focuses on innovative, sustainable solutions to promote the energy transition and to reduce emissions.

Munich-based Steinbeis Holding manages the Steinbeis family's business assets through the acquisition of industrial holdings. Its investment strategy focuses on sustainable companies in the circular economy, environmentally friendly energy and ecological paper markets.

Abel Group is a service provider in the mobile communications, electrical engineering, and renewable energy sectors. It offers solutions for private and business customers, thereby contributing to digitalization and sustainable energy supply. The group, which has over 900 employees, is headquartered in Engelsberg, Upper Bavaria.

ARQIS, with a team headed by partners Dr. Jörn-Christian Schulze and Dr. Friedrich Gebert, provided comprehensive legal advice to biogeen GmbH on these transactions. ARQIS advised biogeen for the first time in connection with these acquisitions. The transactions are further examples of ARQIS' proven expertise in the field of Green M&A.

Advisor to biogeen GmbH
ARQIS (Dusseldorf): Core Deal Team: Dr. Jörn-Christian Schulze (Partner), Katrin Ludwig, Christos Choudeloudis (Managing Associates, all Transactions) Dr. Friedrich Gebert (Partner, Regulatory), Partner: Dr. Ulrich Lienhard (Real Estate), Marcus Nothhelfer (IP, Munich), Counsel: Jens Knipping (Tax), Managing Associates: Conrad Wiza (Transactions),Tim Bresemann, Diana Puchowezki (both Real Estate), Hannah Düwel (Regulatory), Jasmin Grünen (Tax), Rolf Tichy (IP, Munich), Associates: Dr. Bernhard Gröhe (Regulatory), Marius Mesenbrink (Japan Desk), Legal Specialist: Tim Kottmann (HR.Law)

ARQIS provided comprehensive legal advice to Sumitomo Electric Industries on the transfer of pension obligations from Sinterwerke Herne to Funding Solutions Deutschland through a share deal. Funding Solutions Deutschland FSD GmbH acquires all shares in Sinterwerke Herne GmbH and will operate as a so-called pension company under the name Funding Solutions Sinterwerke Herne Pensions GmbH. The pension company will manage and fulfill pension obligations of Sinterwerke Herne. All pension liabilities are secured by a contractual trust arrangement (CTA) managed by Helaba Pension Trust e.V..

Sinterwerke Herne GmbH manufactured sintered components for the automotive and power tool industries. The company was acquired by Japan's Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. in 2019.

Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd., headquartered in Osaka, Japan, was founded in 1897. The company is a global leading manufacturer of electrical wires and fiber optic cables. SEI supplies customers, e.g. in the automotive, information, electronics and energy sectors. Listed on the Prime Market (5802) of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and part of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX, the company achieved a total turnover of US$ 29 billion in 2023 with over 290,000 employees worldwide.

Funding Solutions Deutschland has been active as provider of pension fund transactions since 2018. Currently FSD manages ten pensioner firms with a total volume of over €330 million. Companies from a wide range of sectors, including the industry, the service sector, the regulated banking industry and the pharmaceutical sector, rely on FSD's concept and expertise.

An ARQIS team headed by partners Eberhard Hafermalz and Tobias Neufeld advised Sumitomo Electric Industries on all legal aspects of this complex transaction. ARQIS is one of the market leaders for pension buy-outs. In transactions of this type, pension obligations are either transferred to separately established pension companies through a spin-off or the former operating entity, after all assets and liabilities except for the pension obligations have been removed, is transferred to a pensions provider in a share deal. This structure allows a de-risking of pension obligations – a practice common in Anglo-Saxon countries, while the pension buy-out market in Germany is comparatively young but rapidly growing.

Advisor to Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd.
ARQIS (Dusseldorf): Partners: Eberhard Hafermalz (Lead, Japan Desk), Tobias Neufeld (Lead, Pensions), Johannes Landry (Insolvency Law), Lisa-Marie Niklas (HR.Law), Counsel: Dr. Yohei Nagata-Vogelsang (Japan Desk), Dennis Reisich (Tax, Munich), Associate: Kiyomi Zimmer (Japan Desk), Legal Specialists: Miho Kuramochi (Japan Desk), Tim Kottmann (Pensions), Roxana Spieß (HR.Law)

ARQIS has provided comprehensive legal advice to Greenovis Group, a portfolio company of Aurelius Growth Capital, on its merger with Frissen & Zohren GmbH. As a result, Greenovis further expands and strengthens its presence in North Rhine-Westphalia. Frissen & Zohren GmbH offers a wide range of landscaping and green maintenance services primarily to public sector clients, enabling the Greenovis Group to significantly strengthen its market position in this segment. This acquisition is a further step for Greenovis on its way to becoming the leading German gardening and landscaping specialist.

Greenovis Group, headquartered in Langenfeld, unites a wide range of companies from the landscape gardening sector throughout Germany. Among the services offered are gardening and landscaping, sports field construction, playground construction, green roofs, facade greening, and the care and maintenance of green spaces. It is one of the market leaders in this sector.

Frissen & Zohren GmbH, based in Niederkrüchten, has been operating since its foundation in 2002 with around 50 employees. With a focus on landscaping, including outdoor facilities, green spaces, playgrounds, planting and clearance, it also provides professional green space maintenance services.

A team headed by Thomas Chwalek advised Greenovis on all legal aspects of this transaction. This transaction is another example of ARQIS' expertise being relied upon by the Greenovis Group. Most recently, Thomas Chwalek's team advised Greenovis on two mergers in the Berlin area.

Advisor to Greenovis
ARQIS (Dusseldorf): Partners: Thomas Chwalek (Lead, Transactions), Dr. Ulrich Lienhard (Real Estate), Counsel: Martin Weingärtner (HR.Law), Jens Knipping (Tax), Nora Stratmann (Commercial, Munich), Managing Associates: Severin Steffens (Transactions, Lead Due Diligence), Tim Bresemann (Real Estate), Christos Choudeloudis, (Transactions), Rolf Tichy (IP, Munich), Associates: Rebecca Gester (Commercial, Munich), Marius Mesenbrink (Data.Law), Anna Munsch (HR.Law)

ARQIS provided legal advice to the Greenovis Group, a portfolio company of Aurelius Growth Capital, on the further growth of the group. Through the mergers with Stadtgrün Potsdam and TEGLa, Greenovis can successfully continue its growth strategy. The Greenovis Group is strengthening its presence in the area of Berlin by partnering with Stadtgrün Potsdam GmbH and TEGLa GmbH. Through the acquisition of TEGLa, the Greenovis Group is also expanding its portfolio in the areas of civil engineering, earthworks, waste disposal and the manufacture of automatic irrigation systems. As part of Aurelius' buy-and-build strategy, these acquisitions are further steps for the Greenovis Group on its way to the top of the German gardening and landscaping sector.

Greenovis Group, headquartered in Langenfeld, unites a wide range of companies from the landscape gardening sector throughout Germany. Among the services offered are gardening and landscaping, sports field construction, playground construction, green roofs, facade greening, and the care and maintenance of green spaces. It is one of the market leaders in this sector.

Stadtgrün Potsdam GmbH, based in Potsdam, specializes in gardening and landscaping, sports field construction, earthworks and civil engineering and the maintenance of green spaces. The company has been providing its services in the area of Potsdam since 1990.

TEGLa GmbH, based in Ludwigsfelde and Potsdam-Grube, has been offering services in the field of gardening and landscaping, civil and earthworks as well as waste management since 1996.

ARQIS advised Greenovis on all legal aspects of these mergers with a team headed by Thomas Chwalek. In the context of these transactions, Greenovis has once again decided to rely on the advice of ARQIS – most recently also within its merger with Goertz Galabau.

Advisor to Greenovis

ARQIS (Dusseldorf): Partners: Thomas Chwalek (Lead, Transactions), Dr. Ulrich Lienhard (Real Estate), Tobias Neufeld (Data.Law), Counsel: Jens Knipping (Tax), Nora Stratmann (Commercial, Munich), Martin Weingärtner (HR.Law), Managing Associates: Tim Bresemann (Real Estate), Severin Steffens, Christos Choudeloudis, (both Transactions), Rolf Tichy (IP, Munich), Associates: Rebecca Gester (Commercial, Munich), Sabine Müller (HR.Law, Munich)

ARQIS advised the SCIO Automation Group on all legal aspects of its merger with Elektro Eggers. As a result, the international industrial automation group SCIO Automation is expanding its service portfolio in the Process Solutions division to include essential services in the areas of PLC programming and switchgear construction. At the same time, SCIO Automation is strengthening its market position through the resulting synergies and entering further customer segments in the areas of water treatment, food and animal feed production as well as pharmaceuticals.

The SCIO Automation Group, headquartered in the Palatinate town Frankenthal, supports companies on their way to Industry 4.0 as an international end-to-end automation platform. As a system integrator, SCIO automates production and logistics processes and, as an innovator, develops value-adding and customer-specific automation products in the fields of autonomous mobile robots, software, clean room and food intralogistics as well as industrial labeling. The group combines several companies under the SCIO Automation brand as well as other individual brands at over 40 locations in eight countries worldwide.

Elektro Eggers GmbH, based in Grasberg, Lower Saxony, is an automation specialist focusing on the areas of PLC programming, process control technology, hardware design, engineering services as well as electrical assembly and installation. Within the SCIO Automation Group, Elektro Eggers will be integrated as a subsidiary of VESCON Process GmbH, which operates further locations in Cologne, Kriftel, Flensburg and Schuby.

An ARQIS team headed by Thomas Chwalek provided comprehensive legal advice to SCIO Automation on this transaction. ARQIS advised SCIO Automation for the first time on this merger.

Advisor to SCIO Automation

ARQIS (Dusseldorf): Partners: Thomas Chwalek (Lead, Transactions), Dr. Ulrich Lienhard (Real Estate), Marcus Nothhelfer (IP, Munich), Counsel: Christian Judis (Compliance, Munich), Jens Knipping (Tax), Nora Stratmann (Commercial, Munich), Martin Weingärtner (HR.Law), Managing Associates: Christos Choudeloudis (Transactions), Tim Bresemann (Real Estate), Rolf Tichy (IP, Munich), Associates: Rebecca Gester (Commercial, Munich), Dr. Bernhard Gröhe (Regulatory), Marius Mesenbrink (Japan Desk), Anna Munsch (HR.Law), Senior Legal Specialist: Qing Xia (Transactions), Legal Specialist: Tim Kottmann (HR.Law)

ARQIS has advised Alphatron Marine, a subsidiary of Nisshinbo / Japan Radio Co., Ltd. (JRC), on the acquisition of Argonics GmbH and Argonav GmbH.

Alphatron Marine, a subsidiary of the Japanese manufacturer in the area of wireless communications JRC, is a leading international supplier of integrated bridge solutions for the naval and maritime industry. JRC in turn belongs to Nisshinbo Group, a listed producer active in electronics, wireless communications, automotive brakes, chemicals and textiles.

Argonics GmbH manufactures innovative products for inland navigation, including solutions for automated navigation, vessel monitoring, simulation and control. In 2020, Argonics founded the company Argonav, which specialises in inland ECDIS navigation systems. Both companies are technological leaders in the field of inland waterway navigation.

With the acquisition, Alphatron Marine gains essential components for autonomous navigation and will be able to enhance operational efficiency and expand into new business areas. Together, the companies plan to enhance research and development of new elemental technologies for autonomous navigation and introduce new business models utilizing digital technologies.

The transaction was supported legally by an ARQIS team headed by the two Partners Dr. Shigeo Yamaguchi and Dr. Meiko Dillmann.

Advisor to JRC / Alphatron Marine

ARQIS (Dusseldorf/Munich): Partner: Dr. Shigeo Yamaguchi, Dr. Meiko Dillmann (both Japan Desk/M&A, Lead), Dr. Friedrich Gebert (Regulatory), Marcus Nothhelfer (IP), Dimitrios Christopoulos (Commercial), Dr. Andrea Panzer-Heemeier (Labour), Tobias Neufeld (Data Law/Compliance), Dr. Ulrich Lienhard (Real Estate), Counsel: Dr. Yohei Nagata-Vogelsang (Japan Desk/M&A), Associates: Marius Mesenbrink (Japan Desk/M&A), Rolf Tichy (Commercial, IP), Daniel Schlemann (Data Law), Diana Puchowezki (Real Estate)

ARQIS advised Greenovis Group, a portfolio company of the investment company Aurelius, on all legal aspects of the merger with Goertz Galabau. Through this partnership, Greenovis Group is entering another region in Germany and expanding the group's expertise in large-scale landscaping construction projects in the residential, commercial outdoor and sports facilities sectors. As part of Aurelius' buy-and-build strategy, the acquisition is a further step for the Greenovis Group on its way to the top of the German gardening and landscaping industry.

Greenovis Group, headquartered in Langenfeld, unites a wide range of companies from the landscape gardening sector throughout Germany. Among the services offered are gardening and landscaping, sports field construction, playground construction, green roofs, facade greening, and the care and maintenance of green spaces. It is one of the market leaders in this sector.

Goertz Galabau GmbH, based in Großröhrsdorf near Dresden, realises large and complex landscaping projects in residential environments, commercial outdoor facilities and sports facilities throughout Germany.

ARQIS provided comprehensive legal advice to Greenovis on this merger with a team headed by Thomas Chwalek. Greenovis Group relied on the advice by ARQIS for the first time during this transaction.

Advisor to Greenovis

ARQIS (Dusseldorf): Partners: Thomas Chwalek (Lead, Transactions), Dr. Ulrich Lienhard (Real Estate), Tobias Neufeld (Data Law), Counsel: Sina Janke (Compliance, München); Jens Knipping (Tax), Nora Stratmann (Commercial, München), Martin Weingärtner (HR Law), Managing Associates: Tim Bresemann (Real Estate), Severin Steffens, Christos Choudeloudis, (beide Transactions), Daniel Schlemann (Data Law), Rolf Tichy (IP, München), Associates: Rebecca Gester (Commercial, München), Sabine Müller (HR Law, München)

Dr. Roua Schmitz joined ARQIS as counsel as of February 2025. As a specialist in labour law, she will be part of the focus group HR Law and advise clients on all matters of collective and individual labour law. She comes from commercial law firm Seitz. Dr. Roua Schmitz has extensive experience in advising international and national companies in collective and individual labour law. She also advises on collective agreements and their negotiation with the respective committees. She has further extensive experience in labour law litigation and around working time regulation.

The recruitment of Dr. Roua Schmitz continues a series of recent high-profile hires at ARQIS. ARQIS has been able to attract several excellent labour law experts to its Munich office and to establish the HR Law focus group in Munich as well. This strengthens ARQIS’ very good market position both in Munich and across its offices. ‘We are proud that so many successful talents have chosen ARQIS. This shows that our unique approach of a big law boutique, combining the high degree of specialization of a boutique and the quality level of a large law firm, is appreciated by both professionals and clients alike,’ added Dr. Andrea Panzer-Heemeier, Managing Partner at ARQIS.

ARQIS advised the shareholders of Smart Mobile Labs AG, a leading German provider for private 5G-as-a-service, on the sale of all shares to Boldyn Networks (Boldyn), one of the world's leading providers of shared network infrastructure. The merger of the two companies will establish one of the most important players for private 5G solutions in Europe.

Smart Mobile Labs AG, based in Munich, was founded over ten years ago as a spin-off from Nokia and specializes in private 5G networks and video transmission over mobile networks. In addition to its technical expertise and its patented live video streaming software solution EVO (Edge Video Orchestrator), the company brings important contacts to leading German mobile network operators and technology providers.

Boldyn Networks is one of the world's leading providers of shared network infrastructure. The company, headquartered in the United Kingdom, so far provides communication infrastructure in the UK, France, Ireland, Spain, Finland, Italy, Hong Kong and the United States.

A team headed by ARQIS partner Dr. Mauritz von Einem advised Smart Mobile Labs AG on all legal and tax aspects of this transaction. Teams around Dr. Mauritz von Einem regularly advise companies and start-ups from the tech sector.

Advisor to Smart Mobile Labs AG

ARQIS (Munich): Partners: Dr. Mauritz von Einem (Lead, Transactions), Marcus Nothhelfer (IP), Counsel: Benjamin Bandur (Transactions), Dennis Reisich (Tax), Managing Associates: Anselm Graf (Transactions), Rolf Tichy (IP), Associates: Giulia Kögel (Transactions), Sabine Müller (HR Law), Legal Specialist: Konstantinos Strempas

ARQIS provided comprehensive legal advice to Dortmunder Energie- und Wasserversorgung GmbH (DEW21) on the acquisition of Kneip Leitungstiefbau und Infrastrukturtechnik GmbH. This strategic partnership will expand internal expertise and increase efficiency in important energy and water supply processes for DEW21. DEW21 will further focus on its central role as supplier. At the same time, the merger of the companies is an important step towards the sustainable and future-proof implementation of the energy transition.

Dortmunder Energie- und Wasserversorgung GmbH (DEW21) operates throughout Germany and is the main and alternative supplier of energy and water for the city of Dortmund and the surrounding area. DEW21 is also one of the largest municipal producers of renewable energy in North Rhine-Westphalia and is committed to developing a climate-friendly energy supply and expanding renewable energies.

Kneip Leitungstiefbau und Infrastrukturtechnik GmbH specialises in the planning, coordination and implementation of civil engineering projects, in particular in the field of cable laying and pipeline construction. For around 50 years, the company has been supporting utility companies in the construction of utility infrastructure.

An ARQIS team headed by Dr. Friedrich Gebert and Dr. Christof Schneider advised Dortmunder Energie- und Wasserversorgung GmbH on all legal aspects of this transaction. ARQIS regularly advises companies in the energy sector and provides them with legal support e.g. on their way to the energy transition.

Advisor to Dortmunder Energie- und Wasserversorgung GmbH (DEW21)

ARQIS (Dusseldorf/Berlin): Partner: Dr. Friedrich Gebert (Regulatory, Lead), Dr. Christof Alexander Schneider (Transactions, Lead), Dr. Ulrich Lienhard (Real Estate), Lisa-Marie Niklas (HR.Law), Counsel: Anja Mehrtens (HR.Law), Nora Stratmann (Commercial), Managing Associates: Diana Puchowezki (Real Estate), Daniel Schlemann (Data.Law), Luise Schüling (Regulatory), Associates: Hannah Düwel, Dr. Bernhard Gröhe (both Regulatory), Luzia Schulze Froning (HR.Law), Conrad Wiza (Transactions)